3. Star Wars Land may not actually fix Disney’s Hollywood Studios
Image: Disney
Disney brass seemed to realize in the past 18 months what most guests have known for quite a few years: Disney’s Hollywood Studios is in trouble. And though it sounds great on paper to simply swoop in and drop Star Wars Land on this park like a thermal detonator, the fact is that this park may not actually benefit all that much from the addition of Star Wars Land.
Based on early, unofficial estimates, Star Wars Land will be taking over a huge part of the park, and will ultimately be adding two attractions and at least one restaurant. While the argument could be made that Diagon Alley (which has done some amazing business for Universal Orlando Resort) is just a single ride, some shops and a single restaurant, the fact is that Disney’s Hollywood Studios needs attractions more than Universal Studios Florida did prior to Diagon Alley's opening, and Star Wars Land may not actually add that much, which won’t do much to get rid of the "half day park" stigma that surrounds this park.
Image: Disney
Consider the following: Assuming Toy Story Land is open before Star Wars Land, a total of 4 new rides will be open by the time Star Wars Land launches (5 if you include the incoming Star Wars Launch Bay) However, by contrast, nearly a dozen attraction closures will have also taken place during this transformation (assuming the heavily rumored One Man’s Dream, Voyage of the Little Mermaid and the aforementioned Echo Lake/Streets of America closures actually take place). The math here doesn't make sense, as Disney's Hollywood Studios is still on the losing side of the equation when it comes to attraction count.
While the quality of Star Wars Land will undoubtedly be top notch (the jury’s still out on toy Story Land), introducing two E-ticket style attractions with little else seems counterproductive and will likely create huge lines for these few attractions without providing a real incentive for guests to stick around at the park after they've experienced the two Star Wars rides
While there’s no clear way for Disney’s Hollywood Studios to reinvent itself the same way Disney’s Animal Kingdom has (love it or hate it, Pandora: The World of Avatar has given this park a new purpose, and the addition of evening entertainment looks like it will pay massive dividends), Star Wars Land (and to a lesser extent Toy Story Land) will just increase crowds without giving this park the new purpose it so desperately needs.
Image: Disney
There’s no debating that Star Wars Land will be absolutely amazing when it debuts at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Disney is clearly going to the next level in terms of theming and immersion, and there’s no doubt that guests will be absolutely transported to another world when they enter this land.
However, with this progress comes the sobering reality that a lot is being lost to prepare for this new land. Events like Star Wars Weekends and the Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights (which ran for 15 and 20 years, respectively) before being unceremoniously steamrolled by Star Wars Land, and if current rumors and information is correct, these are only the first of many casualties. Only time will tell if the sacrifices were worth it.
Comments
I agree that the park needs more attractions. But if you look at the past with the Hogsmeade area, it saved Islands. And that was essentially 1 new ride. As long as Disney takes risks with the rides themselves it can be very successful. When Disney doesn't take risks it fails, just look at the Fantasyland Expansion for proof of that.
Immersion into the land will also play a large role. I know many people that don't even ride Gringotts yet say Diagon Alley is their favorite area in any park. If Disney can make a truly immersive land that people enjoy being in then the lack of a couple sub-par attractions won't be that big of a deal.
I personally feel that Toy Story Land will not be successful because it lacks many of the keys to immersive design: Culture, Music, and Lore. Star Wars has all this, so it has great potential.
Poor muppet vision..... It's my favorite show. How much longer do you think It'll have?
The aspect that keeps bothering me is that everyone reports that WDW advantage over Universal and all the other theme parks is space - it owns lots of it, over 25,000 acres!
So why do we find that with every new ride / experience an existing ride has to be demolished? It would seem to make more sense to simply grow into all this extra space and spread the parks out more because let’s face it, the crowds are only getting bigger as reported by recorded attendance figures this year again.
I can only assume that WDW does not apply this tactic as they want to keep operating costs (maintenance, staff etc) down and to a minimum. So the only way we 'customers' will ever benefit from all this space is from more hotels and more shops. I know we all benefit from the correct balance of rides, parks shops, hotels but right at the core of all this is the theme parks so this is what needs to grow, not the shareholders pockets!